Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un Hold First Summit; Carlos Ghosn Granted Bail in Japan Again; Sri Lankans Angry after Easter Sunday Attacks; Inside Russia's Plan to Crush Sudan Protests. Aired 12p-1a ET
Aired April 25, 2019 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, everybody. Thank you for joining us. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Ahead this hour, everything old is new again. Kim Jong-un reviving North Korea's ties with Russia. His summit with Vladimir Putin had a clear message to the U.S. president two months after Donald Trump walked out on nuclear talks.
What did they know and when did they know it?
Being revealed, the Sri Lankan government ignored multiple warnings from India for days and weeks leading up to the suicide attacks.
Plus, just say no. Trump's legal strategy to confront a growing number of congressional investigations.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
VAUSE: The timing here is significant, two months after president Donald Trump walked out on the second summit with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader has fired up the armored train and headed up to Russia for a one-on-one meeting with Vladimir Putin.
It's a clear message to Donald Trump you're not the only game in town. The summit s set to begin shortly. A Kremlin aide said the main topic on the agenda will be denuclearization.
Talks between Pyongyang in Washington have stalled over U.S. sanctions. Without any signed agreement or joint statement, this summit is light on action, heavy on messaging that Russia is a player here. CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now.
We'll get to all the excitement in a moment but something closer to you at least. The strongly worded statement from the North Koreans criticizing U.S.-South Korean joint military exercises and all the usual language we're used to.
But the U.S. is only mentioned twice, in the opening line and toward the end.
"Wind naturally brings wave. Now that the South Korean authorities get undisguised in their military provocation against the DPRK, together with the U.S., there will be corresponding response to it from our army."
Reading the tea leaves here, Pyongyang foreign policy, that would seem to indicate the North Koreans are not willing to close the door on further talks or relations with Washington.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, that certainly the impression that you get from this. North Korea has been fairly critical of South Korea over recent weeks. And they're coming up to the anniversary of that first summit between Kim Jong-un and President Moon Jae-in.
And Moon would have liked to have had another summit to recognize that with Kim Jong-un. But the fact is Kim's in Russia and you have these drills criticized.
Response from the South Korean defense ministry saying that they're faithfully trying to fulfill the military agreement that they signed with North Korea. And also bear in mind that these are potentially scaled-down exercises. The very large spring exercises that have angered North Korea every single year have been canceled and replaced by smaller equivalents.
It was supposed to be an air force drill called Max Thunder, which is massive. But it is a different kind and yet North Korea is still saying that it's not good enough.
VAUSE: It's interesting, they still brought out the anger of the North Koreans, mostly at the South Koreans. The main issue, though, of the summit, they say, will be denuclearization. The Kremlin has gone to some effort to insist they are not trying to undercut President Trump, saying the talks aim to build on the positive trends from earlier talks.
So just to continue with this game of make believe, how much leverage does Russia have in terms of convincing the North to give up its nuclear and missile programs as well as its stockpile of nuclear weapons?
HANCOCKS: Well, John, Russia is a traditional ally of North Korea. In previous decades, they have been very strongly supporting North Korea economically. But after the fall of the former Soviet Union, they really haven't had as much influence on economic trade as they once did.
But it is interesting to see Kim Jong-un, having tried the new approach of talking directly to the U.S. president Donald Trump, that did not go as he wanted to in Hanoi.
So what he's doing now is going back to the traditional ally of Russia. Russia has not been involved in this process over recent years. So certainly from Putin's point of view, he will be delighted to inject himself back into this and make sure that he is part of any future solution.
But when it comes down to the nuts and bolts, there's not much that Russia can give to North Korea on sanctions, for example. That's what Kim wants; he wants these sanctions eased.
Russia signed on to them as part of the United Nations Security Council. And he can't unilaterally -- President Putin can't unilaterally call any sanctions or ease any of those sanctions.
Of course there will be many words of --
[00:05:00]
HANCOCKS: -- support but when it comes to the specifics, it's hard to see what exactly they can promise.
VAUSE: Another show, perhaps. Paula, thank you.
Paula Hancocks live from Seoul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: From Seoul, we have the executive director and chief operating officer of the Ploughshares Fund, which works to eventually eliminate nuclear weapons.
Philip, I'd like you to listen to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, what said he said while he was traveling to Vladivostok to meet with Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM JONG-UN, NORTH KOREAN LEADER (through translator): I came to Russia with the warm feelings (INAUDIBLE). I hope this visit will be successful and useful, and that during the negotiations with esteemed President Putin, I will be able to specifically discuss the matter of solving the situation on the Korean Peninsula and developing our bilateral relations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That's what he says.
What does he really mean?
Why is he doing this trip?
PHILIP YUN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PLOUGHSHARES FUND: I think the summit between Russia and North Korea was inevitable. This is something that North Korea has done all along and has done in the past when the United States -- when negotiations with the United States were at a lull or perhaps with South Korea they go out and meet with China or Russia.
They've done that in the past and it seems to be an opportune moment to do this now. I think the United States -- (CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: OK, Kim Jong-un just arrived at the summit and he is shaking hands now with Vladimir Putin. These two men now meet -- this is their first face-to-face meeting in a summit like this.
It's the sixth world leader that Kim Jong-un has met since 2018, sine he opened up to the world.
They are now walking into this summit. It's actually on an island just off the coast there in Russia, from Vladivostok.
They do say denuclearization will be the main topic, which seems odd, given how much leverage Russia has when it comes to denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.
YUN: Yes, it doesn't have a lot of leverage. I think this is one on symbolism. I think Kim Jong-un is trying to figure out what his options are and is trying to increase leverage and pressure on the United States.
The interesting thing is that Kim Jong-un wanted to meet Vladimir Putin several years ago and the Russians refused to do. So what happened is after Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump agreed to meet Kim Jong-un last year, China went to speak -- wanted to speak with Kim Jong-un and Russia felt left out.
So this is an opportunity for Vladimir Putin to insert himself into this. And I think Kim Jong-un wants to figure out a way internally to show that North Korea is not isolated. So there is a lot of symbolism here and it's as much for the United States but also for Kim Jong-un to show that he is still a player as well.
VAUSE: We'll continue to look at these live pictures of Kim Jong-un shaking hands, Vladimir Putin walking just behind him as the summit is set to get underway.
Who wanted this more?
Kim or Putin?
Who's more to gain out of this?
YUN: I think this is a situation where both -- it's perfect timing. But Kim Jong-un again wanted to put the United States on notice that they are not going to wait forever. Remember Kim Jong-un two days ago made a speech to say he's waiting to the end of the calendar year for a proper response from the United States.
Putin always wants to try to get -- does not want to be left out. This is a matter of prestige for him. So the ability now in a situation where there is a lull and arguably a stalemate between the United States, Putin can try to insert himself and try to be a mediator of some kind. I think this is a win-win for both.
VAUSE: Since Donald Trump walked out of the Hanoi summit, we've had this trip to Russia by Kim. North Koreans have carried out a weapons test. A senior North Korean official called for the U.S. secretary Mike Pompeo to be removed from nuclear talks, replaced with someone -- they said they wanted someone more mature.
Mike Pompeo seems to have brushed all of that off.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We're very focused on getting the right set of incentives for both sides so that we can achieve the objective. It's going to be bumpy, it's going to be challenging. I hope that we get several more chances to have serious conversations about how we can move this process forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: To be bumpy it has to be moving forward. It seems like they're getting nowhere.
YUN: At this point, I think what's happening is the reason they were pinging Pompeo was that they want to make sure that the -- preserve the leaders' channel between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump. This whole notion of top down because arguably Kim Jong-un thinks he can more from Donald Trump than at the working level.
[00:10:00]
YUN: But interestingly, the speech that Kim Jong-un made 10 days ago before their Supreme People's Assembly, talked about the need for more working level preparation. So I think this thing with Mike Pompeo was in a sense to rattle the cage a little bit, saying we have to get down to business and we have to get something done as soon as possible.
So it is mixed messaging but it's very subtle and very directed towards the United States.
VAUSE: What we heard from the North Koreans is they want to get it back to the way it used to be done?
Work out the details and hammer out all the issues and then get the two leaders together?
YUN: I think that's part of it. (INAUDIBLE) --
(CROSSTALK)
YUN: -- I'm not sure what exactly happened in Hanoi. So that's what they're trying to get together. And I think you're right; exactly Kim Jong-un wants, what denuclearization means, Kim Jong-un was trying to get a better deal.
And what I understand is the North Koreans at the working level are basically stonewalled and said we're going to leave it up to Kim Jong- un. And Donald Trump didn't take it. So now they have to start back again from square A to find out what does denuclearization mean, what does it encompass and when does it happen? Is it sooner or is it later?
VAUSE: Phil, please stay with us because we have Paula Hancocks with us as well. She's live in Seoul.
As we continue to watch these live pictures of this summit between Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin, Paula, we are told there will be no signing ceremonies and no joint declarations, no joint statements from these two leaders.
What will they actually be doing?
HANCOCKS: That was an interesting point, John, the fact that they were at pains, pointing that out before the two leaders even met. And it suggests that they have learned a lesson from the Hanoi summit, where they announced ahead of time there would be a signing ceremony.
When there was no agreement, it was an embarrassing backpedal. It shows that there is an understanding that there's not going to be any grand headline coming out of this meeting between these two leaders.
It is the first time they have met. It's being billed as a get to know each other and make sure that they can talk about denuclearization. That's been mentioned by the Kremlin.
But there is an acute awareness on both sides that there is not going to be any great announcement to be able to put forward in a statement. And it makes sense because there's not really any grand gesture that Vladimir Putin can offer to Kim Jong-un at the moment, given Kim Jong- un wants the easing of sanctions.
And that's not something that President Putin is able to give him. Potentially there may be some comments from the Russian president afterwards. We're not clear about that. But we are not expecting the two to be standing side-by-side and signing anything.
It really shows this is not so much a fishing expedition but certainly a chance for Kim Jong-un to tell Vladimir Putin what he wants and for Vladimir Putin to show his support to the North Korean leader.
VAUSE: To take that point a little further, Philip, Vladimir Putin can't do a whole lot about sanctions currently in place on the North Koreans. But the Russians can do quite a bit of mischief. They can aid the North Koreans in evading those sanctions and help them get around the inspections, help them with the maritime issues or get supplies smuggled into the country.
YUN: Yes. And in fact, there is concern that the Russians -- and there are Russian vessels that are helping the North Koreans to evade sanctions as they are, in which a transfer of cargo via ship in the middle of the ocean, which is hard to detect. So I think you're absolutely right.
It look at the Russians as like the Phantom of the Opera. They disappear and they're not really a player but they can play havoc when they want to. I think from the Russian standpoint, they are incredibly
opportunistic. What's more important, is not what's going to be said publicly but what's going to be said in that meeting and I think they're both gauging each other.
But I also think they're trying to figure out -- Putin is triangulating a little bit. He's trying to figure out when would be an opportune time for Kim and Russian interests to assert themselves.
Will there be an opportunity on sanctions?
Will there be an opportunity on closing a deal?
These are things that he's trying to figure out. Of course, there's larger issues between the United States and Russia and China. So he's going to figure out when would be a good time for him to insert himself -- this is the beginning. He's trying to get a gauge of what Kim Jong-un is like and I think vice versa.
VAUSE: Paula, quickly, we're almost out of time. But when you look at these two leaders, just visually and ideologically, they seem more at home or more comfortable with each other than maybe Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump?
[00:15:00]
HANCOCKS: Well, certainly. I think that's going back to the fact that they are traditional allies and Kim Jong-un would have grown up knowing his father and his grandfather spent much time in Russia and the former Soviet Union and they obviously played Russia and China off each other as well, trying to get as much in terms of foreign investment as they could.
We're just getting some indication of what the two leaders are saying as they're sitting there. It's niceties at this point, welcoming Kim Jong-un, saying that he wants to offer him a word of congratulations for filling the role of chairman of the Workers Party.
This is one of the many roles and titles that Kim Jong-un has. But saying he hopes the visit is going to improve their relation and they can find a good solution to resolving the current political climate, saying that they support the efforts to normalize North Korean and U.S. relations.
So they're just in the very first comments from President Putin. He's mentioning the United States, saying publicly that he is welcoming the fact that Kim Jong-un is trying to normalize those relations.
VAUSE: Phil, just one more for you. The relationship between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump is well-known. They have been showering praise on each other. Donald Trump said he loved Kim Jong-un in a brotherly kind of way or something. There will be a very different dynamic between Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin, I imagine.
YUN: Yes, I would assume so. But again, symbolism is really important here. And in certain ways, as Paula was talking about, I think Russia is always hoping over a longer term that there's going to be something going on between -- there's going to be a better relationship between North Korea and Russia.
And they were just recently, about a week ago, talking at a lower level about building a new bridge between those two countries. So there is a lot going on here and we'll have to see where this all goes.
VAUSE: That is the point. Philip Yun, thank you so much for being with us.
Paula Hancocks as well, live for us in Seoul.
Great to have you both with us and we appreciate it.
We will take a short break, we'll be back with a lot more. You're watching CNN.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
VAUSE: Nissan's former CEO, Carlos Ghosn, has been granted bail in Japan less than a month after he was rearrested on new charges. Bail was set at $4.5 million. The once powerful auto executive now faces --
[00:20:00]
VAUSE: -- charges of financial misconduct, accused of embezzling $5 million of Nissan's money to a car dealership which he controls. He's also awaiting trial on separate charges of understating his income for years and transferring personal investment losses to Nissan. He denies all wrongdoing.
A growing sense of anger over Sri Lankan authorities' failure to act on warnings about Sunday's deadly terrorist bombings. The government has admitted they received three mornings from Indian intelligence about a potential suicide bomb plot on churches and tourists on the weeks and days leading up to the attacks.
The president has asked the state defense minister and police inspector general to resign. U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo told CBS News there is every indication the attacks were, at the very least, inspired by ISIS.
CNN's Nikhil Kumar is live in Sri Lanka.
We're learning a lot more about the suicide bombers. And in many ways, they don't appear to be the garden variety Islamic extremists.
NIKHIL KUMAR, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, John. We are learning more than we did yesterday when the state defense minister held a presser. I'm at a house in Colombo, which was raided by police, three policemen
dying here. As they raided the place, there were two women inside; one of them blew herself up. She had been named as the ninth suicide bomber yesterday.
We know from sources that this woman was the wife of one of the bombers who struck the Shangri-La hotel, a man called Insan Seelavan. He is somebody who -- adviser to the president of this country, has identified to us as someone he believes was a mastermind of the attack.
We've learned about the profile of the attackers. They are from relatively well-off, middle class background. One of them in fact studied in the U.K. and did post graduate studies in Australia before he returned to Sri Lanka.
We're getting more of a picture of the bombers even as the authorities race to make sure there aren't any further attacks. There's still concern the prime minister, in his press conference day before yesterday, said that there is concern about people out there with explosives who are plotting further attacks.
And the race is on to make sure that they are apprehended and also to investigate what happened. We talked about it before, there's been a colossal intelligence failure here. We know that India warned Sri Lanka thrice, including only an hour before the first explosion went off.
And the warning was fairly specific. It said that churches and hotels were among those places that could be targeted. So it's the big question here as to why that wasn't followed up, while all the security you see on this island, why it wasn't in place on Easter Sunday before the worshipers went into those churches and those tourists went into those hotels.
VAUSE: The question is, the authorities in Sri Lanka have been reluctant to name the suicide bombers and give out details.
Why is that?
KUMAR: So they say that they are still investigating. They are investigating the local connections and they are investigating the international connections. We know ISIS has claimed responsibility. They haven't provided much evidence and that's all being looked into.
We also know of another international connection from an Indian intelligence source that an initial warning came from ISIS suspect that they had apprehended, who divulged details about one of the suspects in the bombings.
All these links have been probed and the authorities are saying we are still looking into all this before we release all the information. The questions are just mounting up. People here, even as they try to come to terms with what happened, this is a country that went through a violent civil war. Security on the streets was something that, if you visited here in the 2000s, the '90s or the '80s, it was fairly common.
There were checkpoints and people would be stopped and frisked. But that all ended when the war came to an end in 2009. Since then, they've been getting used to peace, to normalcy. They've now been plunged back into the reality, albeit for different reasons, and they're asking why.
Why did these people die?
Why wasn't enough done to make sure that this didn't happen in the first place, John.
VAUSE: Very quickly, the funerals continue for the victims here and there's been this ongoing concern about retaliation against the minority Muslim population in Sri Lanka.
What's the latest on that?
KUMAR: That's right. There has been concern that could keep communities apart in this country. Funerals have been under heavy security and that's because of the continued threat of attacks.
We know from an intelligence source that the NTJ, the group that's been identified as being involved in these attacks, were plotting a second wave. This was based on intelligence gathered after the Easter Sunday attacks.
There's a lot of security around the funerals but I have to say --
[00:25:00]
KUMAR: -- when we've been in communities talking to people, just like yesterday, the community was really coming together. We met Muslim and Buddhist members of the community who were all saying we are not going to allow this to drive us apart.
Which is why it's so important for the authorities to make sure that this is all now, after the immense tragedy that has happened, it's so hard to wrap your head around that, to make sure that there are not any further attacks.
And this can be stopped, these bombers can be caught and the process of healing and reconciliation since the war in 2009, that can once again resume, John.
VAUSE: Nikhil Kumar there with the very latest from Colombo, we appreciate, thank you.
The wave of suicide bombings have exposed religion fault lines in the island nation and families who lost loved ones in the attacks are struggling to cope. Here's CNN's Ivan Watson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ten-year-old Alexandria sings a song for her father. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUDESH KOLONNE, FATHER OF VICTIM: She loved to dance. She's like, she loves to create songs, you know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: This is the last video Sudesh Kolonne has of his little girl. On Sunday morning, the Australian-Sri Lankan, his wife, Manik and daughter, all prepared to celebrate Easter together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOLONNE: They we were so excited Sunday we are going to church for the ceremony.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: And it was here at St. Sebastian Catholic Church that a suicide bomber struck.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KOLONNE: Both died in front of me, especially my daughter and my wife both died in my hand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: His wife and daughter two of the hundreds of people killed on Easter by a wave of suicide bombers.
Grief now echoes across this island nation, hundreds of families destroyed by acts of unspeakable violence.
The people of Sri Lanka have barely begun the process of burying their dead. And there are still so many more funerals to be had.
The suicide bomber at St. Sebastian transformed this house of worship into a slaughterhouse.
One top Sri Lankan official says the bombers were home grown Islamic extremist seeking revenge for a white nationalist's attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand last month. mass shootings that killed 50 people.
The weapons used against the mosque in New Zealand and St. Sebastian Church here in Sri Lanka may have been different but all of these attacks were fueled by the same raw hatred.
This, this is the end result of the twisted logic of mass murder.
Sri Lankans are trying hard to avoid descending into a cycle of sectarian revenge attacks. The Catholic clergy, trying to keep their targeted community calm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIROSHAN PERERA, PRIEST: Be calm. Don't fight with each other, don't have a grudge with each other, especially with the Muslims.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: But grieving families can't even mourn in peace. Police and troops out in force to protect funerals from the threat of a second wave of terrorist attacks. Survivors like Sudesh Kolonne are left clinging to extended relatives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOLONNE: We have a really good family. I mean, especially my daughter, a good time, unbelievable loss.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Hard to imagine how anyone can ever recover from this type of loss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOLONNE: Now they are going, now I'm very hurt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Ivan Watson, CNN, Negombo, Sri Lanka.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Next up on CNN NEWSROOM, a CNN exclusive, the secret Russian plans to crush anti-government protests.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.
[00:31:31] North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time this hour. The summit comes as Pyongyang talks with Washington over denuclearization have stalled over the issue of sanctions.
The meeting is viewed as Russia's push to assume a leadership role in the current standoff.
Sri Lanka's president has asked the state defense minister and police inspector general to resign in the wake of Sunday's terror attack. The government admits it received repeated warnings from Indian intelligence about a potential plot against churches and tourists before the bombings but failed to act.
Another powerful cyclone is headed for Mozambique, where recovery efforts continue after the country was hit by a powerful storm last month. In just 24 hours, Cyclone Kenneth has strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 3 hurricane -- the equivalent of that, rather. And it's expected to make landfall in a matter of hours. The protestors in Sudan continue to hold out against the country's latest military rulers. The families of the dozens killed by Sudanese government forces over the three months of protest are continuing to mourn their dead.
But as deadly as the months of protests have been, CNN has learned it could have been much worse. Documents obtained by the London-based group, the Dossier Center, and shared with CNN detail a plan very similar to that which is believed to have played out during the 2016 U.S. elections. This time put forward by a shadowy Russian mining company linked to U.S.-sanctioned Putin confidant Yevgeny Prigozhin, offering to help crush the protestors, spread misinformation, and keep Omar al-Bashir in power and stake a Russian naval presence on Sudan's strategic Red Sea coast.
CNN's Nima Elbagir has the exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): He was just 17 years old, in his first year of university.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire! Fire!
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): January 8, government forces in Khartoum opened fire on unarmed protestors. A teenager, Mohammed El-Fateh (ph), is among the first to die. His mother tells us, he knew there was a chance he'd be killed that day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It was Mohammed's hope that the government would be overthrown. Our hope is that the same way Bashir killed our son, he must be executed, killed.
ELBAGIR: Sudanese President Omar Bashir is ousted, but the crowds gather still outside the military headquarters. Today, they're chanting, "Only blood washes blood." They want justice for the dozens of lives lost during the pro-democracy process that could have been so much worse.
CNN has learned that in January, Russian advisors to the government drew up plans to suppress the protests. Government sources in Sudan say they worked from an office in Khartoum belonging to an obscure Russian mining company called M Invest.
(on camera): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
We just asked in those offices, and they told us that this was another mining company, not M Invest. But this is the exact address that we've been given by numerous sources, and there really isn't any other Russian company matching the description that we were given of M Invest right here.
(voice-over): CNN has discovered that M Invest had sophisticated plans to disrupt the process: painting them as a foreign plot; fabricating evidence that protestors were being paid, that they are destroying mosques and schools. (on camera): The evidence comes from thousands of documents shared
with us by the London-based Dossier Center. They paint a picture of an operation prepared to go to great lengths to keep Omar al-Bashir in power. But why would an obscure mining company care?
(voice-over): Because M Invest is part of the business of Yevgeny Prigozhin, one of Russia's most prominent oligarchs and a man close to President Vladimir Putin.
The documents reviewed by CNN offer no confirmation that official Russian security agencies were involved directly in trying to suppress the protests in Sudan. But Sudan was at the heart of a Russian drive to expand its influence in Africa.
Russia had bet big on Omar al-Bashir. It wanted logistical help for their navy at Port Sudan.
In January, activists circulated images of heavily-armed men observing the protests. Government and military sources in Sudan say they were private Russian contractors, embedded with Sudanese government forces.
(on camera): At the same time, M Invest was working on a plan to discredit the leaders of this process, recommending that looters, so- called looters, should be executed; putting together a social media campaign suggesting that Israel was behind the process. And saying that lesbian, gay and bisexual activists were working among the protests. That's something that would have been utterly unacceptable in the deeply Islamic and conservative society here in Sudan.
(voice-over): Multiple government and military sources in Sudan tell CNN that Russian advisers were placed in government ministries and the national intelligence service. According to one senior figure in Bashir's regime, their plans involved what he called minimal but acceptable loss of life.
The regime did begin to implement the M Invest plan, smearing students as trying to foment civil war; limiting Internet access and even devising a fake social media campaign to start disputes and disinformation. The same playbook U.S. prosecutors say Russia's Internet Research Agency used to disrupt the 2016 presidential election. The agency and M Invest both tied to Yevgeny Prigozhin.
He's previously denied any ties to election meddling, and calls to his company for this report went unanswered.
And when he apparently felt Sudan's government was slow to act, Prigozhin evidently wanted more. In a letter to Bashir in mid-March he accused the government of inaction and warned that the lack of active steps to overcome the crisis is likely to lead to even more serious consequence.
As the process gained strength, Prigozhin wrote again, praising Bashir as a wise and farsighted leader but urging immediate reforms.
Senior officials in Khartoum tell us that Bashir hesitated. Within a week, he was gone. But M Invest is not. The documents we've reviewed show that it has
close ties to Sudan's military, and they're in charge now. The families of the fallen prey that their sacrifices are not in vain.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'm happy that Mohammad's dream of freedom was realized. I'm grateful to God, and I hope -- dear God forgive me.
ELBAGIR: The Kremlin and its oligarchs may have other ideas. But for now, here in Khartoum, the fight for freedom continues.
Nima Elbagir, CNN, Khartoum, Sudan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Moscow has consistently played down Russian contractors operating in Sudan, saying this, "We are informed that some employees of Russian private security firms, who have no relation to the Russian government authorities, are indeed working in Sudan, but their functions are limited to personnel training."
With that, we'll take a short break. We'll have more news here. You're watching CNN. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:41:32] VAUSE: Facebook is bracing for a fine for U.S. regulators, up to $5 billion over its data privacy scandals, with the first financial penalty for Facebook in the U.S. since news of the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke in March last year.
And that brought increased scrutiny to Facebook and a revelation the social media giant has been willing to sell a lot more private information to advertisers and others than previously thought.
But investors seemed unconcerned. Facebook stock was up as much as 10 percent in after-hours trade.
Prince William is visiting New Zealand right now for Anzac Day services. It's a national holiday to commemorate the World War I battle at Gallipoli, which the Australian and New Zealand army call the Anzacs, against Turkish forces.
This remembrance now honors those -- all those who died during military conflicts.
The prince arrived in Christchurch a short time ago after attending an Anzac ceremony in Auckland. In Christchurch, he's expected to visit both mosques where an Australian gunman killed 50 people last month and wounded 50 others during Friday prayers.
Many of this year's Anzac observances were scaled back because of security concerns. Turkish authorities say a suspected ISIS member was arrested for allegedly plotting to attack one of the ceremonies in Gallipoli.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. WORLD SPORT starts after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:44:49] (WORLD SPORT)
[00:57:16] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:03] VAUSE: Hello, everybody. Thank you for joining us. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Ahead this hour, everything old is new again.
END
